Category: #VOTY

The road to the Vehicle of the Year was not one to tread these days.

Now in its fifth year, the criterion for a winner gets tougher with more things to scrutinize and take notes on. It is not as easy to give the award away.

To be the VOTY, a vehicle has to be pretty darn good. There's no room for mediocrity when looking at vehicle quality, performance, ease of use, comfort, driving dynamics and overall efficiency. They also have to have a story behind them worth telling. Not to mention, a public say as to which one is worthy of the award.

The 27 vehicles nominated came from 16 brands that stretched from compact sedans all the way to heavy-duty pickups. These vehicles were assembled in seven different countries, mostly in the NAFTA zone. Under the hood were regular internal combustion engines either fueled by regular petrol, premium grade petrol or ultra-low sulfur diesel. Some had electric motors attached to them. One particular nominee had its electric motor be the primary mover of a vehicle.

Overall, the scoring was indeed tough. It actually came down to the voting itself to declare a winner.